Is it possible to buy an IDE and Molex splitters?

I only have one external enclosure and at £20 each i can't really go and get another. I have 2 drives that swap between but i'm worried if this will cause wear on the drive's connections after a while. So i thought what if i had a cable that could handle both drives and i could simply disconnect the drives further up the line without having to actually touch the drives?

The way i see it cables are cheaper than the enclosure and drives, and now i have to watch the pennies :(

If you are using a USB connection it is kinda possible.

But you'd have to wire it up in such a way that when the deivce is disconnetec you flick a switch to activate the 2nd drive, but having them at the same time is a nono iirc.

I don't mind having to swap out the cables manually everytime i want to switch drives, i just don't want to be pulling out the cables directly from the drives or the enclosure if you get what i mean.

So i don't need it to do anything complicated, just need a way to....maybe if i draw it it'll make more sense :p, i'll see what i can do

Is it possible to buy IDE cables with a female end?

You can make them up, but you need a specif tool.

I think i may just end up with something like this instead:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Just looked on ebay and it seems like a lot of hassle. I'll try and sell a few things and maybe just get a second icybox

£20 for a second enclosure would be cheaper that making up a cable - which would also be very likley to add errors the the signal unless it is done perfectly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Marcos

I think i may just end up with something like this instead:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...MEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Just looked on ebay and it seems like a lot of hassle. I'll try and sell a few things and maybe just get a second icybox

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That thing has a 2.5" drive connector on one side and the regular IDE connector on the other side. Dan Rutter did a review, I think.

edit: Yes he did, of something very similar: http://www.dansdata.com/rdriver.htm

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Kez

That thing has a 2.5" drive connector on one side and the regular IDE connector on the other side. Dan Rutter did a review, I think.

edit: Yes he did, of something very similar: http://www.dansdata.com/rdriver.htm

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Nice, let's hope the ebay item is of the same quality

Another enclosure isnt that expensive, and also, i know it doesnt really matter, but ide cables do have female connectors.
Holey bits = female, sticky bits = male, for what i would hope are obvious reasons.